Greatest boxer and fighter of all time …Ali … his demise on 3rd june 2016… Muhammad was to be buried in the night of 10th June, 2016 as per Indian Standard Time.

In the early morning of 10th June, 2016 I observed a Indian Grey Hornbill trying to widen the opening of the cavity already occupied by a female and chicks in the Sunder Nursery in New Delhi .Suddenly another Hornbill appears and starts fighting with the Hornbill already stationed there.

The fight starts on air, and they continue even after their fall. Again they flew up and perched on a branch about 5 to 6 feet from the ground. They stared at each other, fight continues for a while on air as well as on the ground. Meanwhile, a house crow comes in the frame and starts observing the fight between these two Grey Hornbills. The myna and the jungle babbler too were observing the fight.

The fight, as if in the boxing ring and crow was the referee, while mynas and babbler were spectators. There was even a moment when the crow was so close to the fighters as if they were being separated on the violation of rules of the match. It also raised its wings to make its intention clear to the fighters. The fight continued for almost a minute and ultimately the winner flies to the branch of the tree and the devastated loser makes exit.

My camera captures the entire event and takes me to down the memory lane – the ‘fight of the Century’ the ‘fight of the Century’ since I had seen that fight on 8th March 1971 at Medison Square Garden New York ,U.S.A(between Cassius Clay,previous name of Mohammad Ali and Joe Frazier) . I felt as if nature is paying tribute in its own way to the ‘greatest’.

About Vinod Goel

He joined Customs & Central Excise service in 1982. As a civil servant, his job takes him to various parts of India, which gave him an opportunity to capture our wild heritage, through his camera. His passion for wildlife photography started in 2004 when he was posted at Raipur (Chhattisgarh) and this passion continues till today.